Stage 19--the final time trial
1. Lance Armstrong (1:06:49). Gee, I can't believe Armstrong won. What a shocker. He'll go to Paris with a lead of 6:38. For a guy that Stephen says is near the end of his road, he sure stomped one of the deepest TdF fields in recent memory.
2. Jan Ullrich (+1:01). Why does Ullrich keep losing to Lance by 61 seconds? For the first time ever, Ullrich will not finish on the podium. Ullrich was really strong in the last week of the race with his attacks in the mountains and his great time trials. But two days off form in the Pyrenees were too much to overcome.
3. Andreas Kloden (+1:27). Outstanding job by Kloden to stay close to Ullrich. Kloden only made one attack in the three weeks, but he was strong throughout. He was among the last to get dropped in the climbs, and he was superior to Basso in the time trials, so he jumps up to a second place finish.
4. Floyd Landis (+2:25). You've got to be kidding me! Landis had every reason to take it easy after the job he did over the last week, but I suppose he wanted to shock us again. Holy cow! Landis is awesome. Never again in his career will he have as good a week as this last one.
5. Bobby Julich (+2:48). You've got to be kidding me! His career ended a few years ago. He looked dead after a crash last week. What has gotten into these guys? There was a time when American cyclists were a joke in the Tour. Today they were 1st, 4th, 5th, 11th (Hincapie), 12th (Leipheimer) and 24th (VandeVelde) on the stage.
Julich had a much better day Saturday.
6. Ivan Basso (+2:50). Basso may catch some heat for losing his second place to Kloden. The good news is he held off Jan Ullrich and will finish 3rd. No shame in that. He had to be expecting to fall a spot--Kloden was close and Basso isn't an elite time trialist. Really, he turned in a gutsy race today to cap off a fine Tour. Come this time tomorrow, he can say he's one of only 5 men ever to beat Ullrich in a TdF. That should put it in perspective.
Other notables:
I, too, was hoping Thomas Voeckler could hang on to his white jersey, but Vladimir Karpets was just too strong. Voeckler was even passed by Sandy Casar, but earned a spot on the podium, finishing 3rd in the young punk category. I'm glad he gets some hardware. Maybe he'll develop into a good climber and a good time trialist. If he does, he'll win the Tour someday, because he definitely has the heart for it. That image of him pumping his fist as he approached the finish of stage 13 at Plateau de Beille, knowing he had dug deep enough to retain the yellow jersey another day is my favorite moment of this Tour. Rocky on a bike.
But let's not forget Vladimir Karpets. He'll win the white jersey, and he's young enough to defend it next year. You think he'll get some offers from other teams?
Telekom barely held off USPS in the team competition. They had a 5 minute lead to start, and Kloden and Ullrich provided a great 1-2 punch. The counterpunch was Armstrong & Landis, leaving the two teams separated by a few seconds. Postal's third rider was Rubiera (+3:40), and Telekom's was Botero (+6:45). Since team time is based on only the top 3 riders, Telekom escapes with one of the smallest margins of victory I've ever seen in the team competition, just 2:04. Think of it this way--CSC is the only other team within 50 minutes of Telekom. And if the team time trial were done on time, not place, Telekom would have won by about 1:24.
But on the day Postal blew Telekom away. Botero was Telekom's third man, and he was close enough to Rubiera to retain the first place for Telekom, but he actually finished behind SEVEN USPS riders. That's right, 7 of 9 were faster than Telekom's third man.
The 2004 USPS team is THE BEST TEAM I HAVE EVER SEEN AT THE TOUR DE FRANCE!
1. Lance Armstrong (1:06:49). Gee, I can't believe Armstrong won. What a shocker. He'll go to Paris with a lead of 6:38. For a guy that Stephen says is near the end of his road, he sure stomped one of the deepest TdF fields in recent memory.
2. Jan Ullrich (+1:01). Why does Ullrich keep losing to Lance by 61 seconds? For the first time ever, Ullrich will not finish on the podium. Ullrich was really strong in the last week of the race with his attacks in the mountains and his great time trials. But two days off form in the Pyrenees were too much to overcome.
3. Andreas Kloden (+1:27). Outstanding job by Kloden to stay close to Ullrich. Kloden only made one attack in the three weeks, but he was strong throughout. He was among the last to get dropped in the climbs, and he was superior to Basso in the time trials, so he jumps up to a second place finish.
4. Floyd Landis (+2:25). You've got to be kidding me! Landis had every reason to take it easy after the job he did over the last week, but I suppose he wanted to shock us again. Holy cow! Landis is awesome. Never again in his career will he have as good a week as this last one.
5. Bobby Julich (+2:48). You've got to be kidding me! His career ended a few years ago. He looked dead after a crash last week. What has gotten into these guys? There was a time when American cyclists were a joke in the Tour. Today they were 1st, 4th, 5th, 11th (Hincapie), 12th (Leipheimer) and 24th (VandeVelde) on the stage.
Julich had a much better day Saturday.
6. Ivan Basso (+2:50). Basso may catch some heat for losing his second place to Kloden. The good news is he held off Jan Ullrich and will finish 3rd. No shame in that. He had to be expecting to fall a spot--Kloden was close and Basso isn't an elite time trialist. Really, he turned in a gutsy race today to cap off a fine Tour. Come this time tomorrow, he can say he's one of only 5 men ever to beat Ullrich in a TdF. That should put it in perspective.
Other notables:
I, too, was hoping Thomas Voeckler could hang on to his white jersey, but Vladimir Karpets was just too strong. Voeckler was even passed by Sandy Casar, but earned a spot on the podium, finishing 3rd in the young punk category. I'm glad he gets some hardware. Maybe he'll develop into a good climber and a good time trialist. If he does, he'll win the Tour someday, because he definitely has the heart for it. That image of him pumping his fist as he approached the finish of stage 13 at Plateau de Beille, knowing he had dug deep enough to retain the yellow jersey another day is my favorite moment of this Tour. Rocky on a bike.
But let's not forget Vladimir Karpets. He'll win the white jersey, and he's young enough to defend it next year. You think he'll get some offers from other teams?
Telekom barely held off USPS in the team competition. They had a 5 minute lead to start, and Kloden and Ullrich provided a great 1-2 punch. The counterpunch was Armstrong & Landis, leaving the two teams separated by a few seconds. Postal's third rider was Rubiera (+3:40), and Telekom's was Botero (+6:45). Since team time is based on only the top 3 riders, Telekom escapes with one of the smallest margins of victory I've ever seen in the team competition, just 2:04. Think of it this way--CSC is the only other team within 50 minutes of Telekom. And if the team time trial were done on time, not place, Telekom would have won by about 1:24.
But on the day Postal blew Telekom away. Botero was Telekom's third man, and he was close enough to Rubiera to retain the first place for Telekom, but he actually finished behind SEVEN USPS riders. That's right, 7 of 9 were faster than Telekom's third man.
The 2004 USPS team is THE BEST TEAM I HAVE EVER SEEN AT THE TOUR DE FRANCE!
posted by uberschuck at 2:24 PM
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